


Purple and Green: Love and/or Envy in The Sign of Three

by eveningsoother (WhichWolfWins)



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Color, Episode: s01e01 A Study in Pink, Episode: s03e03 His Last Vow, F/M, Freudian Elements, Freudian Slip, M/M, Meta, lots of pictures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-14 03:24:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1250962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhichWolfWins/pseuds/eveningsoother
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an analysis of the colors purple and green in 'The Sign of Three' and what they could mean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Purple and Green: Love and/or Envy in The Sign of Three

Ever since John and Sherlock’s first  ~~date~~  night, I have considered purple to be their color. We all know that in A Study in Pink, John and Sherlock stop to eat at Angelo’s and some very interesting conversations happen: 1) Angelo mistakes John as Sherlock’s date and 2) they have the “It’s all fine” conversation. While all of this is taking place, we’ve got this nice shade of purple back-lighting John in the window.

It’s not just a glimpse of purple, either. From the moment they enter Angelo’s to when Sherlock steps out on the street to go after the cab, purple adds a nice pop of color.

For those who don’t know, purple is a symbolic color for the gay community in many Western cultures. For the sake of this meta, it’s also that way in the show.

Another interesting thing about purple: it symbolises the subconscious. “Of or concerning the part of the mind of which one is not fully aware but which influences one’s actions and feelings.” Hmm… that sounds familiar… *cough* I’m not gay. *cough*

So, purple is Johnlock in this meta. Subconscious (or not so subconscious by the time I’m done with this) gay feelings. If you would rather not look at a bunch of pictures with purple and green in them, then I suggest you exit now.

Now… where was I…

Yes. I explained why purple, so now let me tell you why green. Green is envy, of course! The ol’ green-eyed monster pops up a bit throughout TSoT quite a bit. Not only can green be viewed as envy, but it can also connect to love, too. Oscar Wilde, a homosexual man in the 1800’s, who Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was friends with, was famous for wearing a green carnation on his lapel, which became a covert way for people to display their sexuality in that time. *EDIT* Also, see Jim from I.T.’s bright green pants!

So, purple = love, green = envy and/or love.

_FYI: I am in no way suggesting that Sherlock doesn’t like Mary, I’m just saying that he wants what she has._

**Warning:** This is my first meta post ever and it was inspired by [this](http://salsify.tumblr.com/post/72587179853/color-in-sot) post by salsify about green and its appearance in the show. It may seem pointless to you, but this was my way of getting my thoughts together on the episode, so I decided to post it and see what you guys think of the colors.

 

At the start of the episode, Mrs. Hudson takes the stairs up to John and Sherlock’s flat with tea to discover Sherlock practicing dancing for John’s upcoming wedding. Mrs. Hudson sits down to have a chat with him about said wedding and gets to talking about how marriage changes things. She does a lovely bit of foreshadowing where she talks about her own wedding and how her best friend wasn’t really looking forward to it, because it marked the **end of an era**. She goes on to tell Sherlock that her friend left her wedding early.

> “I remember she left the wedding early. Who leaves a wedding early?”

Here Mrs. Hudson is sitting in John’s chair as she talks about her wedding and how she and her friend were going to be best friends forever, but as soon as she got married, everything changed. Normally I would say the throw blanket across the back of John’s chair is gray, but the lighting gives it a greenish tint here. Mrs. Hudson’s shirt is an almost purple gray, as well. There’s also green broccoli and green beans on her apron.

Sherlock gets frustrated and kicks Mrs. Hudson out of the flat, then, we get this:

The turquoise on the walls looks green behind Sherlock and behind the bookshelves as he’s reminded of John’s absence and quite likely the reason he’s not there; i.e. Mary.

Then Sherlock goes into his bedroom to get dressed for the wedding.

The walls in his bedroom are a pale green. 

> “Right then. Into battle.”

Next we get the exit from the wedding and the photographer asks to take a picture of the newly weds.

> “I wanna get this shot of the newlyweds.”

Sherlock stays exactly where he is.

> “Er. Just the bride and groom please.”

Sherlock still doesn’t move an inch, not until John gets his attention and he remembers that he’s not the one marrying John.

Back inside, the photographer is taking pictures of the attendees.

 Greg’s drinking at the wedding, likely thinking about his failed marriage as he’s surrounded by happy couples. In the back we’ve got this woman in green who appeared quite often in scenes with Greg. There’s also a green bottle in the center of his table throughout the episode.

 

Then we’ve got Sherlock deducing men for the chief bridesmaid.

> “Can I keep you?”
> 
> “D’you like solving crimes?”
> 
> “Do you have a vacancy?”

Sherlock’s eyes immediately go to John and Mary and the lady in the green dress makes another appearance.

 

Sherlock then leaves Jeanine and goes to speak to Mary as Major Sholto arrives, John greeting him by the door.

> “If they’re such good friends, why does he barely even mention him?”
> 
> “He mentions him all the time to me. He never shuts up about him.”
> 
> “About him?”

Once again, we get the lady in green to the right as Sherlock looks on at John and Major Sholto, jealous that John talks about Sholto all the time when he wants John to be talking about him.

 

Sherlock then goes to call his brother and try to get him to come to the wedding so he doesn’t have to suffer alone.

 We’ve got this intriguing shot of Sherlock talking to Mycroft on the phone as Mycroft says he supposes he’ll be seeing more of Sherlock now. This confuses Sherlock and Mycroft goes on to explain that it will be just like old times.

> “Well, it’s the  **end of an era** , isn’t it? John and Mary - domestic bliss.”

Again, we’ve got the woman in green showing up on the left as Sherlock’s split down the middle and becomes uncertain of himself.

 

Fastforward a bit and we’ve got Sherlock stuttering over his speech. Interestingly, here’s the view from where he’s standing:

We’ve got both purple and green at the front, in Sherlock’s direct line of sight.

 

Cut to Molly in the lab talking to Greg, worrying about John asking Sherlock to be his best man. Then she calls Mrs. Hudson, knowing she’ll understand.

> “I was just thinking. If-if John does ask Sherlock…”
> 
> “What, the speech, dear? No, it’ll be fine.”
> 
> “It-It’s not just the speech, though, is it?”

If not the speech, then what is it that would make being the best man hard for Sherlock? Here we’ve got green on Molly’s buzz-saw and purple on the right side of the picture. The answer is: Having to face his feelings for John.

 

Back in the present, Sherlock stumbles through his speech until John mentions the telegrams and Sherlock gets them out to read a couple. Then he brings up John asking him to be his best man.

Flashback to the kitchen and John is hinting around that he needs a best man. Sherlock seems clueless and he offers suggestions. All the while, he’s surrounded by green, most likely jealous of whoever it is that John considers his best friend.

> “I want to be up there with the two people I love and care about the most in the world. Mary Morstan…”

> “And you.”

 

Sherlock goes on to tell everyone about how he is unpleasant, rude, ignorant, and an all-around arsehole that anyone could meet. He’s talking about contrasts and describes John as the opposite of himself and promises never to fail him. He manages to make the audience cry; he nearly makes John cry himself. John asks Mary to keep him from hugging Sherlock if he tries, but she says she won’t, so when Sherlock is confused by the crying audience, John gives in and hugs his friend, telling him he didn’t do anything wrong.

Here we’ve got purple directly between Sherlock and John and nowhere else.

 

Once John sits down, Sherlock tries for humor and goes on to talk about some of the cases he and John have been on. You probably know where I’m going with this:

The elephant in the room. Sherlock’s feelings for John.

 

Sherlock goes on to tell a story that puts John in the best light. Flashback to the flat where Mary is trying to get John to take Sherlock out to prove to him that things haven’t changed just because John’s getting married. We get them discussing wedding details and John says he likes the choice of purple.

> “I like the bridesmaids in purple.”
> 
> “Lilac.”
> 
> “Lilac.”

This is where I got curious about whether or not purple may be important in the episode and decided to rewatch from the beginning. Then this insanity happened. We’ve got a hint of purple in the scale model Sherlock’s made of the venue and some green up there by John’s head.

 

Sherlock chooses a case where a man claims that there’s someone taking pictures of him everyday. Since the man has an hour before his shift is over, it appears that John and Sherlock sit on a bench and wait. Sherlock, pretending like he’s trying for small talk, brings up Major Sholto.

> “So why don’t you see him anymore?
> 
> “Who?”
> 
> “Your previous commander, Sholto.”
> 
> “Previous commander?”
> 
> “I meant ex.”
> 
> "Previous suggest that I currently have a commander."
> 
> "Which you don’t."
> 
> "Which I don’t."
> 
> "Of course you don’t."

Here we’ve got the first instance of the Freudian Slip. Sherlock thinks of himself as John’s current commander. In this scene, they’re completely surrounded by green; hell, even John’s slacks are green!

This is an interesting conversation, because later at the wedding, Sherlock is hurt/jealous because John apparently talks all the time about Sholto and not him, when just a few years previous, he was the one John always gave compliments to. Even later still, we have Sholto saying that he and Sherlock are alike in a lot of ways; yet another nail in the coffin telling Sherlock that he’s going to be dropped by John.

John goes on to tell Sherlock that he doesn’t need to be worried about John and Mary. Unknowingly to John, Sherlock slips away after that so his confession that Sherlock changed his life.

 

During the case, John tries to get into the Wellington Barracks to investigate Bainbridge’s claim that there was a man taking pictures of him every day. When alerted to the fact that Bainbridge has been found dead, John goes to the scene of the crime in the showers. One of the men thinks John’s up to no good and tries to get him arrested. John goes on to list his credentials to the man so the man will allow him to view the body. When the man gives in, we get this scene:

> “Uniform fetishist,” Sherlock had said earlier. “All the nice girls like a soldier.”
> 
> “It’s sailor.”

That was definitely another Freudian Slip there, Sherlock! You’re the one who likes a soldier. Here we’ve got green on both sides and on the back wall.

 

Back at the wedding, Sherlock goes on to tell the guests about John’s stag night and we get him talking to Molly at Bart’s. They’re discussing his and John’s plans to drink on every street where they’ve found a corpse.

Here’s Molly, wearing a green cardigan as Sherlock tells her of their plans that night.

We already know that she still has feelings for Sherlock, despite her engagement to Tom, though she’s trying to act like she’s over him.

 

During the stag night, we’ve got John and Sherlock drinking and as the night goes on, the colors only seem to become more prominent. We have three separate bars bearing these colors.

The last is absolutely flooded with it. [Here’s](http://alabellecreation.tumblr.com/post/72762561549/the-sign-of-three-visually-tells-us-that-john-swings) a lovely meta by alabellecreation linking the colors to the bisexual pride flag.

The next time we see them, John and Sherlock are laying down on the stairs in 221. Mrs. Hudson finds them and they go up to the flat to continue drinking.

We’ve got green behind Sherlock and a green-ish tint to the room as Sherlock and John try to guess what names are on their foreheads. John is noticeably flirty in the scene, batting his eyelashes at Sherlock and even laying his hand on Sherlock’s knee.

> "I don’t mind."
> 
> "Me, too."

Look how open they are with each other! Both men have their legs apart, their feet tangling throughout the scene, and they lean very close into each other’s space as the game continues. When John asks if he’s supposed to be a pretty woman, Sherlock goes on to explain how some’s view of beauty is based off of childhood impressions, influences, and role models. Interesting that he should say that when John looks noticeably like Sherlock’s dad, as madlori pointed out [here](http://madlori.tumblr.com/post/71925679314/nijimei-cumberbuddy-benedictcumberassbutt).

Then comes Tessa wanting them to solve a case. She dated a man who seemed interested, but he disappeared and she never saw again.

[Here’s](http://kirkspocks.tumblr.com/post/72531260498/so-im-just-gonna-focus-on-some-stuff-i-noticed-in) another great Johnlock meta by kirkspocks with gifs of Sherlock flushed with green as Tessa describes her night with Mayfly Man and an explanation of how the scene alludes to Sherlock’s feelings for John.

Tessa takes John and Sherlock to the scene of the crime. The flat has this random purple light in the corner.

Sherlock is flamboyant in his drunken state and here we have the purple light back-lighting him before he sinks to his knees and lays down with his bum in the air in a very submissive position.

Suffering from a hangover, John goes to visit Mrs. Hudson. As she did earlier, Mrs. Hudson ends up talking about her own marriage and, once again, we’ve got a very clear connection to John and Sherlock

> “Did you think you’d found the right one when you married Mr. Hudson?”
> 
> “No! It was just a whirlwind thing for us. I knew it wouldn’t work but I just got sort of swept along.”

As he talks to Mrs. Hudson about her whirlwind romance, the room is a very soft lilac.

 

Then we have Sherlock in his mind palace as he chats with the women wronged by the Mayfly Man. Yet again (I’m sensing a theme here!), we get the women describing what it was about the man that they liked.

> “He was very charming.”
> 
> “He listened.”
> 
> “He was sweet.”
> 
> “He had a lovely-” “manner.”

Out of nowhere, John pops up in the room. (Gee, I wonder what brought that on!)

The cardigan is noticeably purple in Sherlock’s mind palace, then as Sherlock’s brought back to 221B, Sherlock’s cardigan looks more red than purple.

 

When we come back to Sherlock telling his speech, the photographer takes a picture of him and he realizes that someone’s in danger at the wedding. He has a not-so minor breakdown where he struggles to gain control of himself.

Here they are as Sherlock tells John that he always keeps him right. We’ve got the bridesmaids on either side of them in their ‘lilac’ dresses. Things pick up and Sherlock finally points to Major Sholto as the target. They race up to his room to stop him from getting killed. Sholto and Sherlock talk about how they won’t kill themselves, not at John’s wedding.

[Here’s](http://whichwolfwins.tumblr.com/post/72666314258/clothing-costumes-parallels-caricatures-and) a meta post by freebatchproblem (with my comments added on) about what Sholto means when he says he and Sherlock are alike.

In the back we’ve got this rich shade of green as the conversation happens, directly between Sherlock and the woman who he feels is taking the man he loves from him.

 

After Sholto’s taken care of, it’s time for the night do. We get Sherlock and the chief bridesmaid getting some dance practice in before they go out on the dance floor.

Here he is, actually dancing with his feelings for John. We have Jeanine in purple and purple light glancing off the walls behind him.

> “I wish you weren’t… whatever it is you are.”

There’s John’s cue again! John arrives just as Sherlock says, “I know.”

 

Here we have my favorite color shot as Sherlock plays the violin for John and Mary to dance to.

He’s standing with purple to his right as John and Mary dance in the green. (That shadow in the green above Mary’s head almost looks like horns!)

 

Then Sherlock makes his final speech of the night, vowing to be there for John, Mary and (oops!) their baby. Sherlock then speaks with John and Mary in private.

Here’s Sherlock when he tells them they don’t need him anymore, now that they’ve got a baby on the way.

They all panic, then Sherlock tells them to go off and dance.

Here’s Mary right as she says, “Come on, husband, let’s go.”

Then here’s Sherlock as he watches them walk away.

I think all the flashing colors in the room were supposed to be his conflicted emotions.

 

Then we get the last scene of the episode as Sherlock leaves the party.

The venue is flooded purple. You can almost say that Sherlock’s trying to leave his feelings behind with it.

**Author's Note:**

> [Here's](http://whichwolfwins.tumblr.com/post/72860076301/purple-and-green-love-and-or-envy-in-the-sign-of-three) where you can reblog this and/or follow me on tumblr! :)
> 
> What are your thoughts?


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